Author: Jeremy

Lawmakers in both the Missouri House and Senate have pre-filed bills that would expand health coverage for children living with developmental disabilities.

The bills – HB 399 in the House and SB 45 in the Senate – would make it so children living with conditions such as Down syndrome and cerebral palsy would be covered under health plans in Missouri. Currently, Missouri requires health plans to cover those inside the Autism spectrum.

Children in foster care in Missouri are far more likely to age out of state care than to find permanent homes, according to a recent report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Approximately 13,000 children live under the care of the state of Missouri, and about one-quarter of them are age 14 or older. Older children typically face troubling odds when waiting for adoption – the average age of a child awaiting adoption in the United States is about 7, according to Adoption Network.

The population of youth in foster care in the United States has increased for the fifth consecutive year, according to a report from the federal Department of Health and Human Services. However, a national nonprofit publication said there are signs that number could be plateauing.

The annual Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System’s annual report showed 442,995 youth living in foster care as of Sept. 30, 2017. That is a 1.5 percent increase from the previous year.

For the last decade, the U.S. has made steady progress on insuring its children — specifically moving from about 10 percent of children being uninsured in 2008 to about 5% in 2016. Troublingly, that trend seemed to go in the opposite direction in 2017, according to a recent report by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families (CCF).

Third regional convening for #FFPSA in North KC (thx to @AECFNews for facilitating). One observation: In Jackson County, most common reasons for kids entering care: parental substance abuse, neglect and inadequate housing - @DSS_Missouri 's Susan Savage (not pictured)